Lost Compensation

HPD Taser Statistics

The Houston Chronicle has a schnazzy online report, Tasers & Justice, detailing the Taser X26 and the Houston Police Departments fatal shooting statistics before and after the availability of Tasers to HPD officers in late 2004.  The stats and presentation seem to question the effectiveness of the Taser as an alternative to police shootings.

There were 23 police shootings in 2003; 10 in 2004; 22 in 2005; and 24 in 2006.  In 2003, there was a controversial shooting of 2 unarmed teenagers by HPD, and so Houston witnessed a decline in police shootings in 2004.  The report indicates Tasers show up in late 2004, and police shootings rise in 2005 and 2006, indicating that the Taser is not an effective alternative to deadly force.

Hold on there, chron.com.  Convoluted with the data, and mentioned nowhere in the report, is the large influx of violent crime from New Orleans in the wake of Katrina.  Common sense only dictates that this has had an impact on the police shootings.

But thanks, though.  The graphics of your presentation are very lovely.

Taser 31, others 0

Taser has won yet another case, making their record 31-0 in product liability lawsuits.  Here is the press release.

Disclaimer:  At the time of this writing, neither I nor any member of my immediate family have any investment in Taser.

TASER 30-0 in Product Liability Cases

A Dec 28 press release from TASER International (NASDAQ:TASR) announces that a Cook County Court has dismissed a product liability case against the firm.  This marks the 30th case either dismissed or judgment entered in favor of TASER, against exactly zero losses.

As a business strategist, I find it particularly compelling that TASER is sticking to their guns (so to speak) by vigorously defending lawsuits and choosing not to settle.  I notice a trend, one which the executives at TASER most certainly want to be noticed:  they will not roll-over.  They are putting the entire litigation community on notice.  They believe in their product, they do not believe the cases have merit, and they will fight.  That this message did not become clear somewhere in the teens-to-zero count is another point altogether, but the execs continue to bang the drum loudly.  It finally caught my attention back at 28-0.  I wonder if the original inventors of the TASER device envisioned that legal defense would be such an important component of executing their business strategy?

Back to the Cook County case -- the estate of Ronald Hasse had accused TASER of wrongful death, after a county medical examiner had opined that the TASER caused the death.  Hasse had a toxic level of methamphetamines in his system at the time of death.

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